Just the missing photo maybe

The Girl from Ipanema

Our last day of touring South America...seems like it has been 3 months, so many things we have encountered, discovered and experienced.

Yesterday was our only all day free day with nothing scheduled by Williment, our travel company. But we did have an evening excursion, more of that later. We filled half of our day visiting Rochino favela, a slum. There are several in Rio de Janeiro housing 2 million or so people and this is the biggest one with 250,000. What an experience....south Auckland looks a bit depressing but this favela takes slums to a new level. The living area is so small and there are no green areas or play areas, I would imagine if one person caught a cold or got chicken pox, then they all get it. We were told that there are 80% employed, 10% unemployed and 10% are criminals. Drugs are a problem, mostly marijuana and cocaine, they had not heard of Methamphetamine or "P". The people though are poor but happy. When some of the shanties were knocked down and an apartment block built, the inhabitants built another shanty further up the hill. It was a very interesting half day tour and certainly makes us appreciate what we call home.

Put this in for Blair and any other electrically minded people. All the shantys have power, and running water and we were led to believe they have a waste disposal system. On further questioning about how that works the answers became more and more vague so I left it. Who knows what happens.

 

 

 

 

 

We didn't find time to visit "the girl from Ipanema" but she does exist and has become famous because of the song. She is now in her 50's and is reputed to be still quite beautiful. Ipanema is the next beach south of Copacabana, it is not as big and not quite as popular but still beats Castlecliff or Woodend on a good day. The are reports of a song called "the girl with Emphysema" to the tune of the popular song but not sure if it is modelled on a real girl. Not a lot smoke here which was a bit surprising. 

We are sitting in the Rio airport right now awaiting a boarding call to Santiago, Chile, a 2 hour lay over then 13 hours to Auckland. Pleased to be heading home but I would happily stay touring for another month.

Until next time, see ya.

Copacabana....the hottest spot north of Havana

Barry Manilow was partly right but "......north of Havana......?" has me thinking a bit.....but, we are definitely on the beach at Copacabana. There is lots of water and lots of pretty girls...you are supposed to say that when residing here at Copacabana Beach but a stroll along the sand this afternoon opened some eyes, mine especially. Dress code in this corner of Brazil is a sort of code where this is no code. As I mentioned, while strolling, we, (my first wife and I), encountered a lady (in the broadest sense of the word) dressed in a g-string affair with an acreage of flesh that would have required two bottles of SP50 to cover and there would have been some parts missed due to lack of access. Fortunately my lunch was well settled otherwise things could have been really messy. 

Yesterday we started a day tour with a visit to Christ the Redeemer. There must be a lot of sinners about this side of the World as the place was packed with people presumably looking for redemption. Either they have been sinners or captive at sometime. As I haven't ever been captive (not counting 38 years of marriage, but don't tell Diana that I said that)...redemption only took a few seconds for me. Christ was a fairly impressive type of statue, over 30 metres tall and looking out over almost all of Rio de Janeiro. While some people walk from the bottom up, we took a cog train most of the way and walked the last 250 steps....some of the group took a lift for the last wee bit, however Diana and I are above average fitness for our tour group......but only one of us has had a heart attack!

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 We have had a good look around this interesting city, huge, seems quite safe so far, streets are clean and the people seem pretty happy. We are called "gringos" and I'm not sure if that is derogatory or not but we don't get molested at all. We took a cable car to the top of "Sugarloaf" and had more fantastic panoramic views of the populace and the buildings. We have also been four wheel driving in the jungle which involved a drive through a restored man made forest on a tar sealed road! Hardly needed a 4 wheel drive and the "jungle" did not expose one snake! A couple of friendly monkeys and a toucan but not really a serious adventure.....none the less, it was good fun and nothing like home. Some meals are paid for on our trip and one that we have had here in Rio is a Bar-B-Cue restaurant wher you get yourself salads from a buffet bar and meats are brought out straight off the BBQ. At these dinners they bring out every part of the bullock, every cut possible. At one we even had the "hump" part of the brahman steer. This is boiled for three hours then BBQed and it was very tasty. I thought it might have been full of water or gristle or worse still pus......but it wasn't.

 

Choice meat. We walked in and rolled out...very satisfied.

The Devils Throat

Yes, the Devils Throat! But more about that later.

Our last day in Lima was as good as any we had in Peru, even though we visited two museums before our flight.  Sometimes

museum visits and the spectacle of a heap of old stuff, often broken and decaying in a glass fronted cupboard with signs of "Don't Touch" and "No Foto" tend to wear one down, but it was ok in Lima. Our guide understood the mental telepathy of our group and kept things moving fortunately. Peru was a great country to visit, the Spanish speaking non practising Catholic community all seemed very happy and the towns we visited were clean and safe...the economy is far better than Argentina. The people would have to be the shortest race on Earth....all half backs. A lady walked past me and must have been a little taller than my waist...she wasn't a dwarf person, just small, middle aged. Many of them are like that and I didn't see anyone as tall as me. 

We had a 5 hour flight from Lima to Iguazo National Park in Brazil and our five star "Bourbon" hotel. Free drink on arrival wasn't a bourbon at all but a lime drink that must have been 90% alcohol with a dash of lime....but we all knocked one back.

Our main reason to stop here was to visit the Iguazo Falls, reportedly the best in the World......but don't they all say that? We've seen waterfalls in every country we have been to, we had them on the farm when I was a small boy, waterfalls? just how many do you need to see in one lifetime....I'll tell ya....just ONE!. And with out a doubt (of mine) it is Iguazo Falls. Spectacular would be selling them short. We walked and photographed them from every imaginable angle. Apart from covering 5500 metres on land, walking mostly but also bussing, training and 4 wheel driving, we also traveled by boat right into one and got thoroughly soaked then took to the air for a 10 minute Eurocopter experience.....just fantastic. We got up close and personal with the Devils Throat, the Salto Belgrano and the Salto Adan y Eve and photographed everyone of them. The whole experience really was magnificent.

We saw a lot of water falling over cliffs and I did a bit of googling. This is the number 1 waterfall in the World however our Sutherland Falls in Fiordland made it to number 10 (that's according to Mr Google) Guess I will just have to go and see for myself. So a bit of catch up sleeping and washing for our small team, dinner at the "Buffalo Branco" (white bull) in town tonight then we head for Rio tomorrow with a hotel on the famous "Cocobanana Beach"......is that how you spell it?

       

 

On the trail of the Incas

A short flight from Lima into the Andes saw our Airbus320 aircraft flying low in the valley with the mountains towering above us. Fortunately the pilot found some flat ground just as we were about to hit the earth and we found ourselves in Cusco. An interesting city of 400,000 short people, so short? must be the thin air. We all took precautions against altitude sickness, some with pills, all with food (eat little and no red meat) and reduce alcohol. No one in our little 7 person group suffered anything....apart from a little bit of alcohol withdrawal. Our tour company had organised a city tour and Rene lead us around the cathedral and associated churches...everyone is Catholic, almost everyone, not that they are overly devout.

 

A daylight start the following day and we were off to Urubamba and the river to get our first taste of Inca habitation. There used to be 12 million of them 500 years ago but the Spaniards got rid of most. Those that didn't die from imported disease were dispatched with stainless steel. A few wise enough to see that battling was a lost cause and that they survived all the fevers, signed unreadable agreements and lived to maintain a small population. The Sacred Valley had interesting and well restored archaeological "ruins". These Incas did a lot of building with stone, not stones as big as the Egyptians but none the less an admirable effort. Incas lived here between 1300 - 1600.

 

 

We have found the food in Peru much to our taste. Nothing seems too spicy and they seem to have huge variety with quite a lot of fish and chicken. So far no one has gone down with any sort of food poisoning. A delicacy here is roast Guinea pig, costs about $25. In some restaurants it is possible to select your healthy furry meal and have it  roasted and dished up 30 minutes later....choice!

 

 

 

The long day to Sacred Valley was a quick trip compared to our journey to Machu Picchu, listed as one of the highlights of our trip following an All Black win. And surely it was. We bussed down to a valley, trained along the valley floor, then crazy narrow road up again. It took about 4 hours, deep into the Andes to Machu Picchu perched halfway up. As we climbed the zigzag road up the mountain we could see terraced gardens where the Incas had braved the steep slopes to get a crop of spuds or corn in. I'm sure it was a regular occurrence for the gardeners to fall of the edge of the terrace and plunge hundreds of metres to their death.

Entering the gates into the ancient village of Machu Picchu we gasped a little, partly from the lack of air but also at the extent of the restoration. Our guide pointed out gardens, the Kings living quarters with ensuite, living areas, green space, toilets and anything else we enquired about. The building of the stone works has been constructed in such a way that it will survive earthquakes, probably could have used a couple of the Inca architects in Christchurch 150 years ago. After a 3 hour tour we paused for a sumptuous buffet then back into the village for more photos and a couple of geocaches...seem to be able to play that game anywhere in the World.

After a full day wandering the village we crept back down the zigzag to the train station. 3 hours on the train and a short shuttle bus and we were pleased to get our heads on the pillow at 11.00pm. Up again fairly early to catch our plane back to Lima. Tomorrow, museums then hopefully we will get to watch the All Blacks in South Africa, probably on a delayed broadcast.

Don't cry for me.....4 Oct

Los Pumas became Lost Pumas although they scored far more points than us in the second half. Fortunately the All Blacks had run riot towards the end of the first half and ensured that we could proudly wear our AB garb into the evening. The Argies were muted in the first 40 but were very vocal when there was some questionable rough stuff later in the game....our guys were booed vigorously as they left the field. We had first class treatment at the venue with pre game drinks all free for two hours and another two hours after the game... 
  Sunday morning saw the church service overlooked due to a lunch engagement with the CEO of Williment, the travel company we are travelling with. We went to a top class nosh shop in Buenos Aires where the owner was an ex football player and served steaks 2 inches thick! He had the good sense to have a number 7 All Black jersey amongst an extensive range of football paraphernalia. Always a touch of pride seeing things from home down little side streets in foreign countries.

Diana and I wandered for a couple of hours in light rain to walk off our steak lunch. We came across a free open air cultural concert in a closed off street so stopped by to watch the dressed up dancers performing with a squeeze box and brass orchestra. Blow me down if they didn't sing and play the only Latino song I know. Funiculi Funicula......I sang at the top of my voice, out of tune, out of tone, monotonous singing style, the only one in English.....was quite funny really. Took me back to Form 4 at NPBHS in 1968!

Early to bed on Sunday night as we had a 4.00 am start to fly to Peru. Buenos Aires was a great place to visit but the country is in a bad place. They have been in recession since 2001. They pay 21% GST, 43% personal tax and have inflation of 40% year on year. There are a lot of very poor people and numerous souls sleeping in doorways and parks....quite a sad state of affairs.

Lima, the capital of Peru with 8 million people is a totally different town to where we have just come from.

One interesting thing for sure is that it never rains in Peru. There are no water tables, no spouting on houses and no umbrella salesmen. While we wandered the town on a city tour it was heavily overcast and had the feeling it would rain within 30 minutes "...no chance...." said Fernando our guide.

Lima appears far more prosperous than BA. There is very little litter on the streets, graffiti is almost non existent and the people appear happier. We only had a short stay and made preparations to fly to Cuzco in the Andes. It is high altitude, only 150metres lower than the top of Mt. Cook, so some people have pills, very little alcohol was drunk and we have cut down on steak dinners. We'll see how it goes.

Mendoza and eastward

We were late into Mendoza Casino and Intercontinental following a fractious border crossing and a magnificent drive down through massive rock formations of the eastern side of the Andes. The sun was setting, as we descended through wide valleys and narrow gorges, casting magical light and shadows across the landscape. A quick dinner in the casino, a few pesos in the pokies and we staggered into bed looking forward to an early start....wine tasting at 10.00am. By noon we were mostly inebriated however a well organised tasty lunch was beckoning followed by a continued city tour of the 1 million inhabitants then a 2 hour drive across a desert to San Juan airport.

 

       

29th Sept 

We arrived in our lodgings in Buenos Airies around 11pm, tired teddies. We had a full day tour of the 12 million populated capital of Argentina. Diego, our guide, is top notch and shows us a great many things with lots of interesting stories to add. The River Plata runs through the town translated it means river of silver. It looks as though it should be river of rusted tin such is the colour and we were a bit surprised to discover we can drink from the tap in our hotel and the river of mud supplies all requirements.

We saw the contrasting housing areas.

 

It was interesting to visit the Recoleta cemetery, set out like a small town. It is a cemetery for wealthy people and is full of tombs where entire families lie, coffins visible through doorways and stained glass. Eva Peron lies here and although there is no space left it is sometimes possible to buy a tomb where a family, now fallen on hard times, sells the site. We saw a recent sale site of US$100,000 however had the site been on the main thoroughfare it could have been $50k more. There is no premium for those with a river view.....makes sense I suppose.

Our tour took us through three distinct districts, lower, middle and upper class. Our guide, who tells us he is middle class, can spot the lower class or the upper class citizen a good way off. It is very difficult to move through the classes but it does happen, as was the case for Diego Maradona. He is still treated like a god here. Very few middle class people can afford their own home, most rent. Inflation is running at 35-40% and the peso is almost worthless. They do not save in the bank as the savings depreciate so quickly. Instead, money earned is quickly changed to US dollars and kept under the mattress. 

In the evening we were treated to a 3 course dinner with tango show to follow. The food, we all had steak, was excellent but the show was fantastic. Partly due to a magnificent theatre, highly trained dancers, a talented five piece band and a never ending supply of wine we totally enjoyed 90 minutes of sensual entertainment.

Today is rugby day and we don't start until 3.00pm. The morning is for catching up on sleep, washing, allowing the kidneys a short rest and writing blogs. We are looking forward to kick off and being involved in what will be a new type of crowd experience for us. Hopefully the All Blacks win but it seems Steve Hansen is giving the locals every chance by bringing in so many changes. Whatever happens, we are all excited to be here for sure.

No Chilly in Chile

We flew out on Lan air line on time (26 Sept) heading into the night sky which we quickly eclipsed and landed in Santiago 12 hours later at 2.00pm the next day...all as scheduled. While we flew out of rain in Auckland we arrived into a temperature and humidity sitting in the mid 20's.....choice.

Chile it seems has a strong history of battles, evident by monuments of dead heroes on practically every corner. It seems that on arrival, the immigrant Spainards quickly forgot their heritage and began mumbling about independence. Once this news filtered back to their homeland an armada was dispatched to sort things out. Generally the head man in newly colonised Chile was executed, the masses faith restored in their motherland and a monument erected. Usually the dead hero was placed on a horse, often with sword drawn leaving little to the imagination of where it would be thrust if said hero came close enough to the enemy. They have a serious over abundance of dead heroes although now most corners are used for a completely different passion. At all times of the day it is not uncommon to see a young couple inspecting each other's wisdom teeth with their tongues! This created an uncomfortable feeling when waiting for the green man, difficult to find somewhere to put your hands, folded? In your pockets? Green man! let's cross! Tricky situation averted. The adage of "..do in Rome as......" was quickly dispelled following a short eye contact with my dearly beloved...grey hair and no pdoa were mentioned. Worth a crack though, I thought.

Our first hotel was the Ritz, a posh start to our journey indeed. A tad over done for our small group of agricultural type kiwis. I wouldn't have been surprised on waking up to find a young lady standing by the bedside with a warm face cloth; service, fittings and food were all first class.

 

We had a full day tour of Santiago and surrounds which included a trip to the sea town of Vaparaiso. We walked on the beach on the eastern seaboard of the Pacific Ocean and it was here a potential tragedy almost overtook us. One of our team decided to dip her toe in the 12 degree Antarctic current when a rogue wave appeared and knocked her off her feet. A quick rescue team had our toe dipper back on dry ground albeit with dampness around her nether region which she hadn't experienced for over 70 years. Lessons were learnt one of which will be that a Canon EOS does not work after a bath in salt water...but could have been worse. This was a laugh or cry moment and fortunately our victim chose the former option which helped dispel some of the anxiety of what could have been. Ross Cooper, our team leader, who trained in the engine room of the All Black scrum, showed little sympathy.
 

Our small team, there are seven of us, have been treated to expert guides and drivers and we have been dined at fine vineyards. They mostly grow red grapes but all seem to know that Sauvignon from New Zealand is different but the best in the World.

After two nights in the Ritz we headed for the Andes in our 15 seater bus. Recalling events of crashed airplanes in these rugged mountains our tour company had opted for road transport rather than flight. The road is in excellent condition through the mountains and down into Argentina although not without challenges. To climb out of Chile up to the pass and the border a zigzag switchback construction is used where there are no less than 28 curves. It would appear that Mr Goodyear and Mr Michelin had considerable influence on the route. Vehicle braking companies must also be a major beneficiary of this engineering masterpiece.

Progressing through border control was a step back in time, or at the very least a stopping of time, an extreme test on ones patience. It took over two and a half hours to clear customs due to back logs, and front logs, and general inefficiency of the officials. Strong advice would be given to avoid this fiasco and opt for the far more dangerous flight next time. However, Mendoza is in our sights, Argentina here we come.

Last day in Rwanda

There is no way that we can say that our itinerary left the best until last. 
We had a good night in the Mille Collines, quite a swish abode for us and a far cry from a canvas walled mansion in the Botswana desert.

Theogene our guide picked us up and took us to an artisan market. Here we had to bargain for goods which is never pleasant...we find ourselves aggressively trying to save 50 cents on a $2.00 sale item. They had a heap of carved animals in ebony wood and other material which will no doubt cause eyebrows to raise when we hit NZ Biosecurity.

 Following shopping we had a quick lunch in a very nice restaurant, as clean and well managed as most kiwi premises. Then we were off to the Genocide Museum which has to be one of the most appalling history stops we have had. Nazi Germany and the concentration camps were never a thrill but this place is even more uncomfortable. For 100 days in 1994 the "Hutus" planned and killed 6 people per minute, every hour, every day.........for the entire 100 days. They killed the rival minority tribe of "Tutsi's". Men, women and children were massacred often with a machete and not just by army and militia but by civilians and neighbours. There are reports that some victims were given the option of paying for a bullet if they wanted a quick death. The Museum holds the mass graves of 250,000 of the dead and relatives are often visiting to remember lost family members. 

Over 125,000 people were accused after a new government took control. This was taking ages in the Court system. The National Courts still dealt with those who planned or raped but they decided to return to 'grassroots' justice systems. "The Gacaca trials served to promote reconciliation by providing a means for victims to learn the truth about the death of their family members and relatives. They also gave perpetrators the opportunity to confess their crimes, show remorse and ask for forgiveness in front of their community." 

The convicted included two Catholic priests who encouraged people into their church, then allowed Hutu renegades in to murder them. 

After our visit our guide told us his father and brother were genocide victims while he was at school. His mother is Hutu and was spared though her own brother said she should die for marrying a Tutsi.

 

Rwandans move forward to the future all equal it appears now but they still have a memorial day in every village in April. 

How the country has got itself back on track, is peaceful and safe and where there is no corruption, all in a very short time is quite amazing. Unfortunately the scars will remain for many decades but it appears that their government is doing their very best to put the atrocities behind them. We can hope for the best and encourage anyone who enjoys travelling in the third world to visit and contribute to their economy. The people were extremely friendly and very respectful. The country is very clean (plastic bags are banned), the food very good, the climate as close to perfect as it could be and the National Parks are all different with amazing highlights. Rwanda deserves more travellers...we had a wonderful time and were quite sad to leave.

It is now time to fasten our seatbelts, stow our tray table away and prepare for the journey home with short stops in Johannesburg and Perth, and even shorter stop in Auckland and if all goes to plan we will be back in Blenheim by noon on Thursday this week. Hope you enjoyed your virtual trip with us.

Akagera National Park

After a long drive on one of the better roads in Rwanda, through the capital Kigali, we arrived at the Akagera National Park gates at 7.00pm. Unfortunately, due to new rules (that had not been explained to the guides or notified to the company), we were an hour late and entry had to be denied! Our guide, Theogene was very embarrassed. He rang his boss while the gate guard rang his...they spoke then swapped their phones. They finished on their phones and continued discussion for 15 minutes. Then we were let in......an inconvenience we didn't really need in the middle of Africa, at night after a 5.30am start and 6 hours of driving. But...we are here for different experiences.

Our Akagera Lodge on the edge of Lake Ihema was really nice. Food was fantastic, a bit of Africa mixed with pasta...and other recognisable stuff. Our room was along a board walk just high enough to ensure hippos wouldn't cause interference. The restaurant second to none that we have stayed at with three courses by lamplight in the evenings and our lodgings in the tented bedroom were very comfortable.

 Up early and away into the park looking for wildlife. This park is fenced with solar electric down one side with a river and Tanzania border the east side. There are full time Rangers and fence maintenance teams along the boundary and they proudly released a pride of 7 lion last year and now have 14, of which we saw 3. Later this year they are hopeful of getting 5 rhino from South Africa and that will add to the attraction. Our guide did a great job of finding animals and we couldn't be happier with the safari in Rwanda. It seems rude to be driving past Impala, water buck and zebra in the hope of seeing a lion or an elephant. 

 

The good times have to end and after a short morning run through a small part of the park we lunched and headed back to the capital, Kigali. About 40kms of dusty road made sure that anything that was dirty is worse, and anything that was clean...isn't. We had two short stops on our 120km, 3 hour journey back into the big smoke. First to give a group of boys a soccer ball from NZ.....it was a thrill to see the smiles on their faces. They had been kicking a flax type covered roundish thing prior to our stopping....you might have thought they had just won the World Cup.....a small step closer maybe. Our second stop was to visit our guides 75 year old mother...very humbling. She lost her husband in the 1994 genocide, murdered in front of her! There is free medical care for her now but no social security or pension payment.Theogene supports her financially and his sister lives with her.

Water is a big problem in Rwanda....well getting it is. A few houses have reticulated supply but mostly the people trek to a communal well with yellow jerry cans. That could be several kms away. Bikes are used. It seemed to us that carts, donkeys or sack barrows would be a giant leap forward. Even digging more wells would surely mean way less car versus cycle accidents. I struggle keeping myself balanced on a bike...add 100 litres of water would be suicide for sure. Most of the children will carry 2 x 2litres before and after primary school and a 20 litre on their head once reaching high school status. In fact nearly every item can be balanced on a head in Rwanda.

Our last night back in Des Mille Collines Hotel, leaving tomorrow night for Johannesburg.  Tomorrow we will do a city tour, visit the genocide museum and an artisan market.

 

King Kong's homeland

We left Kamembe in the south west corner of Rwanda for a two day drive north to Kinigi, the base for gorilla tracking. The main roads are fairly impressive and the country is getting to work in developing a main arterial system within. The driving is diabolical. Mostly no white line in the centre which seems to mean you take the shortest path. Fortunately there aren't too many cars and obtaining a license is quite difficult. Having the money to buy a car is probably even more difficult.

We passed through dozens of little villages and enjoyed stopping off in one to give some local lads a football and a pump that we had bought with us from NZ. What started as 3 boys ended up with about 20 in 2 minutes. They were very excited and very polite....it was a nice experience to see them all so happy.

We did have a stop over on our way north. Distances are not great but roads are very windy and hilly so we rarely get into top gear.

Our stop over in Kibuye along the eastern edge of Lake Kivu was at a resort type place which was very relaxing spot. We had a quaint little cottage on sticks and a beautiful sunset...with a glass of rum or two. Fishing boats head out in the evenings, a sort of catamaran affair and they use nets to catch a little fish like a sardine. The fishermen sing to welcome fishes and keep their spirits up...voices carry clearly to the visitors along the edge. Local beer with dinner is a good end to the day.

We had a long drive to Kinigi but a very comfortable resort full of other white skins, mostly Americans it appears. An early start was required for our gorilla trek. About 8 groups of 8 people plus a guide need to be organised prior to departure. Groups are sorted by fitness level which was guessed at by our guide. We headed off with 6 Americans in pleasant conditions. The morning got warmer and the hill a little steeper, it took us two hours to reach our family of 15 which included the oldest silver back in Rwanda....he didn't show any excitement in seeing us! We had an hour with the gorillas, so close that two people were touched by them. Most of the time we were less than 5 metres away, just sitting, trying not to stare directly into their eyes but it was very difficult to refrain from saying "...so how's  your day been?...". 

The two hour walk in required a two hour walk out and a young American couple who had staggered a bit getting in were having difficulty getting out. They appeared to have had an overdose of calories to an extent that they now couldn't summon enough energy to burn off latent calories and they were in a continuing to grow phase. I mentioned the rescue helicopter and was astounded when the guy began considering it seriously. No one else in the group broke into a sweat ....but then we were "resting" every 30 metres! I'm sure their holiday was ruined when they discovered that there are no fast food joints in Rwanda. It is pleasing to drive through a city without seeing the big red M or old Colonel Sanders smiling at us, however the ubiquitous Coca-Cola sign is seen from time to time.

 

The following morning we visited golden monkeys which was a lot of fun. They are completely unphased about visits from humans and we could get as close as we liked. They wouldn't touch us but just carried on their chores as though we weren't there at all.     

From the monkeys we raced back to our lodge, showered, lunched and set off on a 6 hour journey to a lodge in Akagera National Park. Never a dull moment.